High Desert was awarded the first half title in the Cal League South despite losing to Inland Empire last night and falling into a tie. The Mavericks had a better divisional record than did the 66ers, and while there was some questiion as to whether that tiebreaker was ever officially adopted, the league basically decided that "dem's da rules".

-- MWE

Wrong again.

According to the Victory Valley Daily Press, the president of the Cal League, Joe Gagliardi, has determined that tonight's High Desert-Inland Empire game will determine the first half winner:

Coming into the contest, the Mavericks — whose first half had ended on Sunday — held a half-game lead over the 66ers in the South Division. But due to a scheduling quirk, Inland Empire finished its first half on Monday versus High Desert.

This scheduling problem, which was unknown to California League President Joe Gagliardi until four days ago, left both teams in limbo as to what the tie-breaker would be. In fact, Mavericks manager Jeff Carter was told early on Monday that High Desert won the half.

"It was said that we were the champs," Carter said. "It's disappointing the way it was handled. I don't know what happened between saying we won and didn't win. That's the thing that's disturbing."

In case of a tie, the California League by-laws say the winner of the first game between the two teams in the second half is the champion. Since the teams ended their halves on different days it left Gagliardi unsure of how to determine which game was the first of the second half.

Gagliardi was initially going to go to a second tie-breaker — the teams' head-to-head record versus each other, where the Mavs held a 7-6 edge through the end of their first half.

After informing the Mavs of the initial decision, Gagliardi spoke with Pat O'Connor, the Vice President of Administration for the National Association of Baseball Leagues, and decided the champion had to be decided on the field.

Yeesh.

-- MWE

Inland Empire, which two days ago thought it was eliminated from the first half race, won the Cal League South first half title with a 16-10 victory over High Desert. The 66ers had a 14-3 lead, but the Mavericks closed the gap to 14-10 with a touchdown....err, grand-slam home run by Brian McFall keying the rally. A late safety...err, two-run eighth inning salted the game away.

Both FSL first-half titles remain up in the air. Brevard County lost 2-0 to St. Lucie last night as Michael Devaney took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, elminating the Manatees from the East Division chase. Brevard can still play spoiler, though, if they beat the Mets tonight while Palm Beach wins at home against Daytona. St. Lucie leads by a game over the Cardinals, and should they tie, Palm Beach holds the tiebreaker. In the West Division, Dunedin and Fort Myers are tied with one game remaining. The Blue Jays, who have dropped two straight but who hold the tiebreaker, are at Tampa; the Miracle, who have won two straight, host Lakeland.

-- MWE

Mike:

What is the FSL tiebreaker? Thanks.

I believe it's head-to-head first, followed by intradivisional record. Palm Beach and St. Lucie are 6-6 against each other. Assuming a tie, Palm Beach would be 30-16 in the division, St. Lucie would be 28-18. Dunedin is 4-2 against Ft. Myers.

-- MWE

St. Lucie clinched the FSL East title by defeating Brevard County 5-2, breaking a 2-2 tie with a run in the 8th and two in the ninth.

Jon Connolly outdueled Kevin Slowey as Lakeland defeated Fort Myers 2-1, eliminating the Miracle. Dunedin also lost, 6-4 to Tampa, but won the tiebreaker for the FSL West.

-- MWE